explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

Talk:1717: Pyramid Honey

2016-08-08T14:57:56Z

173.245.54.53:

Seems like this could be the [http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-science-behind-honeys-eternal-shelf-life-1218690/ Smithsonian reference]! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 13:53, 8 August 2016 (UTC)

Anyone know what the counter source or argument is?

This looks like it could be the source that inspired the strip:

http://irna.lautre.net/Honey-in-the-pyramids.html

Talk:1568: Synonym Movies 2

2016-06-01T02:10:42Z

173.245.54.53: Comment

I believe they are (in order): ''Harry Potter'', ''Rocky'', ''Pirates of the Caribbean'', ''Indiana Jones'', and ''A Song of Ice and Fire''. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.114|173.245.48.114]] 04:15, 24 August 2015 (UTC)

I wonder why Randall retained the Roman numerals instead of replacing them with numbers? [[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.81|108.162.216.81]] 06:35, 24 August 2015 (UTC)

This explanation has got to have the most redundancies of any explanation on this site. It more or less says the same things four times. Those sure are a lot of redundancies. I don't think there is another explanation with this many redun... OK, OK, I'll stop. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.21|141.101.104.21]] 07:05, 24 August 2015 (UTC)

It feels like Randall gave up on this concept halfway through. The last two (or three) Harry Potter titles, all but the first Pirates, and the last Indiana Jones (I refuse to acknowledge that thing that happened in 2008) are not synonyms for the actual title, but Up Goer Five-style plot synopses. --[[User:SaturNine|SaturNine]] ([[User talk:SaturNine|talk]]) 12:01, 24 August 2015 (UTC)

:Or [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL86F4D497FD3CACCE Honest Trailers]. [[Special:Contributions/188.114.97.30|188.114.97.30]] 23:43, 21 January 2016 (UTC)

"Blizzard" is not one of the 1,000 most frequently-used words.
[[User:Comet|Comet]] ([[User talk:Comet|talk]]) 20:50, 24 August 2015 (UTC)

:What gives you the idea that he has restricted himself to the 1000 most common words? The idea seems to be to make somewhat obscure synonyms of the titles using simpler words that would not make great titles themselves. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.53|173.245.54.53]] 02:10, 1 June 2016 (UTC)

All the Tropical Boaters titles are not synonyms for the actual titles, but mere descriptions of something of note in each movie. I agree with SaturNine's comment above about Randall's ... umm ... assiduousness. {{unsigned ip|108.162.249.176}}

An alternate interpretation of this comic could be that he was stretching the concept of a synonym. A synonym can be a word ''or phrase'' and it expresses the same idea as another word or phrase. Some synonyms can be contextual only. Perhaps, the punchline of the joke is that the actual titles of some of these movies are not synonymous with the movie itself. For example, ''Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides'' when the movie was about the fountain of youth. Thus, Randall's synonym movie title rewrites are synonymous with the movie plot more than the title. This could be said for all of them so far. Perhaps, that some are synonymous with the actual titles is coincidence only. --[[User:R0hrshach|R0hrshach]] ([[User talk:R0hrshach|talk]]) 15:56, 24 August 2015 (UTC)

Well, I enjoyed figuring out what series he was referring to! Regarding the alt text, I am looking forward to the upcoming books "The Gusts of the Snow Season" and "A Reverie of the Vernal Season"!--[[User:Rayrox222]] 17:17, 24 August 2015 (UTC)

And now I need to start watching Game of Thrones with someone, if only so I have an excuse to say something like "Let's watch Fun With Chairs!" [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.116|108.162.221.116]] 08:39, 25 August 2015 (UTC)

Have not watched "Hellboy", have not watched "The devil wears prada". But how about "Hellboy wears expensive fashion"? -[[Special:Contributions/198.41.242.93|198.41.242.93]] 14:59, 25 August 2015 (UTC)

Can someone help me with [[:File:radiation.png]]? No matter what dimensions I upload, it appears low-res. {{User:17jiangz1/signature|16:05, 25 August 2015}}
:Nevermind {{User:17jiangz1/signature|00:17, 26 August 2015}}

The explanations for the ASoIAF titles were off. I fixed them a bit, but they're still not great. There's no "Battle of the Five Kings". There's a War of the Five Kings, but within that war, none of the battles involve the forces of more than two of them. Also, they aren't kings of five separate regions of Westeros: Joffrey, Renly, and Stannis all claim to be king of the whole shebang (although it isn't too far off for the other two). The way A Storm of Swords was described implied that Dany's struggles were just beginning, rather than continuing. A Dance with Dragons is very hard to explain, because the story as published does not at all match the story the name was intended for, and the only real dragon-dancing going on is a slew of references to a historical war (which is itself covered in a separate novella), and possibly the last few chapters (which are mostly setup for the next book rather than a conclusion to ADwD). [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.52|162.158.255.52]] 11:05, 29 September 2015 (UTC)

:Now that I think about it, why do we need any explanation for the book titles at all? Randall's titles are all straight synonyms, that make just as much sense (maybe more) if you have no idea what the books are about. I'll edit again to simplify. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.52|162.158.255.52]] 11:08, 29 September 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1661: Podium

2016-03-30T23:56:52Z

173.245.54.53: link to etymological fallacy

Well as a non-english native, I just recently found that the term podium and lectern were used "wrong" on xkcd. Especially because the lectern is often placed on a podium. So when trying to make a description in a transcript of what the scene looks like you would have to write that ''Cueball is standing behind a podium placed on a podium'' if you did not use the correct word of lectern, or be changing both words ''Cueball is standing behind a podium placed on a scene''. So it would be so much easier if people just used lectern, but I guess this is not the way it will be going, maybe except for xkcd readers now? When I found out recently (March 1st) that there were several podiums in explain xkcd where they should have been lecterns I corrected them all. Although I think it is unlikely that Randall would notice this, it is funny for me, that he makes this joke less than a month after I made the correction. And since I did not know about this before, I was not aware that there was these discussions going on ;-) At least it seems that Randall doesn't take sides in this discussion, although he may think it is silly. (Just like using one type of [[1643: Degrees]] rather than another. What is correct and what will be understood). --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 15:43, 28 March 2016 (UTC)
:Do we have any evidence or knowledge that Randall Munroe knows about and/or visits explainxkcd.com? It's not officially connected with him or xkcd.org, as far as I know. [[User:N0lqu|-boB]] ([[User talk:N0lqu|talk]]) 20:51, 28 March 2016 (UTC)

:I agree that "podium" is just wrong. Just because so-called "dictionaries" want to coddle people who use words incorrectly doesn't mean we should allow them to ruin our language. Allowing people to use "podium" to mean a stand for notes is as bad as allowing people to use "explain" to mean to describe or make intelligible. The word "explain" comes from Old French, where it meant "flatten out", as is obvious from the etymology: Latin "ex-" + "plano", or "out-" + "(I) flatten". This is easy to remember because it sounds like "esplanade", a cleared or leveled space, a noun with related etymology. English has a perfectly good verb, "irecchen", with the desired meaning. Clearly, this site is meant to level out XKCD, to make it flat and featureless, not to make it easier to understand, and I applaud it for using the word correctly. However, I would like to take issue with the misuse of the word "discuss" on this site. This word was borrowed from Norman French with the meaning "shaken apart", but is only properly used in medical history and archaeology—and, even then, it is often misused as "discussed", ignoring the fact that it is already a past participle. In the common language of the uneducated, it is nearly always used to mean "converse about", but the Latin etymology as a participle of "dis-" + "quatere", or "apart-" + "shake", should make it clear how ridiculous this is. Even if we were to allow the medieval monastic fad for using "discuss" figuratively to mean sifting the truth out of text by arguing over them vigorously, that still cannot justify the so-called modern meaning that our dictionaries promulgate. Wé mōton standen for Englisc propre! --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.105|162.158.255.105]] 17:45, 28 March 2016 (UTC)

::I was all ready to go on an [http://www.fallacyfiles.org/etymolog.html etymological fallacy] rant, but then I kept reading and my sarcasm detector finally went off. :) [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.53|173.245.54.53]] 23:56, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

I have huge reference libraries personally, including science and tech, law, medicine, philosophy, arts, etc. I find it a Chinese curse, to need an online subscription for OED 3, after managing to acquire OED 2 v 3 & v4 in forms suitable for both PC and mobile carry, plus Merriam-Webster unabridged as an offline mobile app. Ullman's (industrial chemistry) dwarfs those, however. That noted, dictionaries require active public input, and are plagued by inarticulate speakers. The degradation of "unique" into a comparative is contrary to core etymology. OTOH, "yawl" and "ketch" remain difficult to define as to the basic rigs, while their comparison to each other and "sloop" has been improved as lexicographers have been called out for failing to focus on the key distinction of whether a mizzen mast is stepped fore or aft of the rudder post, not the rudder, or arbitrary relative sail sizes. Nudist and naturist are scrambled by common usage to be both ambiguous, versus to reflect philosophical or religious aspects of naturism versus outward practices or social and business based nudism, while misuse as if conflated with naturalist has decreased, and inclusion of naturist improved. Many dictionaries have recognized schadenfreude as becoming an English word, while despite circa 1981 origins well over the 20 year rule, only a few better dictionaries are yet listing compersion.

Fuck, gender, and profanity now see around 8,000 combined instances in OED 3, close to ten times their presence in OED 2 v4. Jesse Scheidlower, OED editor at large and author of a single word dictionary of "fuck" variants now up to 320 pages in its 3rd edition, gets some credit for that honesty movement over words some unethical publishers have censored or tampered pandering to crooked bigot infested school boards and legislatures. Theist, atheist, pantheist, polytheist, and similar terms are messier, as their common usage is mangled by prejudice based contexts and eastern and western history getting scrambled. Now test for theology versus thealogy, or etymology and definitions for witch (male and female in modern English) versus misrepresentation of warlock (oathbreaker), or words used by both reclaiming identity movements, and as slurs, eg slants, dyke, redskins, q***r, n*****s, pagan, witch, etc. Quality of both dictionaries, and society itself, can be tested by such comparisons.

By joking about politicians using word issues as evasion, Randall could help promote the values that honest understanding of the nature of language and misconceptions of dictionaries and authorities are important. [[User:Loki57|Loki57]] ([[User talk:Loki57|talk]]) 18:05, 28 March 2016 (UTC)
:I deleted most of your contributions, because they were (in my opinion) unreasonably long and confusing. Sorry, Loki57. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.13|108.162.221.13]] 13:38, 29 March 2016 (UTC)

Isn't this whole stucture with elevation and a barrier called "pulpit"? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.102.222|162.158.102.222]] 07:47, 29 March 2016 (UTC)
:A pulpit is a fixed platform, usually partly enclosed, and usually in a church and built specifically for the purpose of sermons. You could describe a pulpit as a kind of podium, but not a _typical_ kind. Also, if there's a stand on a pulpit, it's not a lectern; that word is only used for the smaller stand off to the side of the pulpit for use by lay readers.
:Of course in the kinds of Evangelical churches that have banished the distinction between lay speakers and clergy, and turned the entire stage into a pulpit (no chancel, nave, or even altar), the preacher's stand may be called a lectern. But in that case, there's really no raised podium in the first place, unless you want to call the entire stage a podium.
:The different connotations of "pulpit" and "podium" definitely lead to different metaphorical or figurative uses. For example, it's hard to imagine Teddy Roosevelt talking about the Presidency as a "bully podium". (Of course "bully pulpit" is also hard to imagine a century later, with "bully" no longer meaning "excellent", and sermonizing now being something you accuse religious-right or PC-left politicians of rather than something politicians of high integrity are credited with…) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.105|162.158.255.105]] 16:31, 29 March 2016 (UTC)
::Yes Wikipedia defines a {{w|pulpit}} as "a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church." But they can look quite like a lectern in some situations, as can be seen by searching for pictures of pulpit. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 17:25, 29 March 2016 (UTC)

There isn't a good explanation yet for what "a primary challenge from the prescriptivist base" means. 
Wikipedia has a good definition for a "primary challenge" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_challenge) but a bit more may be necessary for people who don't closely follow American politics. 
In American politics, a primary challenge usually occurs when an incumbent politician has offended the more radical wing of their party. For example a Republican politician (this is usually seen as the more right-wing party in US politics) who takes moderate-to-liberal actions while in office will often face a primary challenge from a much more conservative Republican (someone on the extreme right), while a Democrat politician (the more left-wing party in the US) who takes moderate-to-conservative actions will often face a primary challenge from a much more liberal Democrat (someone on the extreme left). 
Two dramatic examples from recent US history are when Tom Foley (then the Republican Speaker of the House) faced (and lost) a primary challenge from the more conservative George Nethercutt in 1994, and when Richard Lugar (a widely respected senior Republican senator) lost a primary challenge to the more conservative Richard Mourdock in 2012. Here is an article on the latter: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/09/us/politics/lugar-loses-primary-challenge-in-indiana.html 
Part of the joke here is that by using "prescriptivist base" in the same way that political commentators do when referring to the extreme right or left wing elements of the Republican and Democratic parties respectively, Randall is comparing the extreme mindset and behavior of linguistic prescriptivists with radical right-wing and left-wing ideologues. 23:41, 29 March 2016 (UTC)!

EDIT: (I'm new to this), the basic fact is that the latin root of podium is pod- which means foot, or the thing up on which you stand, and the root of "lectern" is Lectio-" which means "to read". In medieval times, the "lecturer" literally was just the "reader" and he read at his lectern. I feel like this is the simplest solution. -KCSEO

Since people typically stand on a podium behind a lectern, there's a subtle pun in "getting to the bottom of this". [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.43|173.245.54.43]] 12:55, 30 March 2016 (UTC)

1654: Universal Install Script

2016-03-11T22:05:49Z

173.245.54.53: /* Trivia */

{{comic
| number = 1654
| date = March 11, 2016
| title = Universal Install Script
| image = universal_install_script.png
| titletext = The failures usually don't hurt anything, and if it installs several versions, it increases the chance that one of them is right. (Note: The 'yes' command and '2>/dev/null' are recommended additions.)
}}

==Explanation==

Most users of computers today are used to simple, easy installation of programs. You just download a .exe or a .dmg, double click it, and do what it says. Sometimes you don't even have to install anything at all, and it runs without any installation.

However, when things are more "homebrew", for example downloading source code, things are more complicated. Under {{w|Unix-like}} systems, which this universal install script is designed for, you may have to work with "build environments" and "makefiles", and command line tools. To make this process simpler, there exist repositories of programs which host either packages of source code and the things needed to build it or the pre-built programs. When you download the package, it automatically does most of the work of building the code into something executable if necessary and then installing it. However, there are many such repositories, such as "pip" and "brew", among others listed in the comic. If you only know the name of a program or package, you may not know in which repository(ies) it resides.

The script provided in the comic attempts to fix this problem, by giving a "universal install script", which contains a lot of common install commands used in various Unix-like systems. In between each of the install commands in the script is the & character, which in POSIX-compatible shells (including {{w|Bash (Unix shell)|Bash}}, a popular shell scripting language) means it should continue to run the next command without waiting for the first command to finish, and not print any output of the command other than errors. This has the effect of running all the install commands simultaneously; whatever errors each commands would have because of a package not existing in that repository will be mixed together as they are all displaying on the screen around the same time. More about the & below.

The script accepts the name of a program when you run it as an argument. This value is then referenced as "$1" (argument number 1). Everywhere the script says "$1", it substitutes in the name of the package you gave it. The end result is the name being tried against a large number of software repositories and package managers, and hopefully, at least one of them will be appropriate and the program will be successfully installed. Near the end, it even tries changing the current working directory to that which is assumed to hold the package to be installed, and then runs several commands which build the program from source code.

All in all, this script would probably work; it runs many standard popular repository programs and package managers, and runs the nearly-universal commands needed to build a program. Most of the commands would simply give an error and exit, but hopefully the correct one will proceed with the install.

One of the more subtle jokes in the comic is the inclusion of <code>apt-get</code> and <code>sudo apt-get</code> in the same script. In most cases this would be redundant as the <code>sudo</code> command is just to add admin permissions. This could be an allusion to a joke in the Linux community about forgetting to include the sudo command. An example of this joke being used elsewhere was a [https://twitter.com/liamosaur/status/506975850596536320 viral tweet] that showed a workaround for the issue. Sudo has also been used both by [[Randall]] in [[149: Sandwich]] and by Jason Fox to force Randall to let him appear on xkcd with [[824: Guest Week: Bill Amend (FoxTrot)]].

Another explanation for this could be that plain "apt-get" is for Debian, while Ubuntu etc. use sudo.

The tool <code>curl</code> downloads files from the network (e.g., the Internet). Used like <code>curl http://xkcd.com/</code> it downloads the xkcd main page and displays the HTML source code. The pipe <code>|</code> in the script attaches the output of the command before the pipe to the input of the command after the pipe. Both commands are executed concurrently. Bash is a popular shell for Unix-like operating systems. The line <code>curl "$1" | bash</code> tries to download a file from the network and to execute the download directly. 

The use of & at the end of each line causes the shell interpreter to execute the commands in parallel (asynchronously) instead of sequentially. Even if single commands fail, the rest of them will be executed. Note this is even the case for the final commands which attempt to change to the installed package, probably the only reason why this may not work completely for packages that do need compiling after being downloaded. (However, just running this script again would probably do the trick.)

There appears to be a bug with the & at the end of the "git clone" line; since a git repository typically contains program source code, not executables, it may have been intended to retrieve the source code with git and then compile and install the program in the next line. In this case, the single & should be replaced with &&, an operator that will run the second command only if the first one has completed successfully. This plays into a second bug on the "configure" line, where the placement of the & means that only the "make install" command will be run asynchronously after the "configure" and "make" steps have finished in sequence. To make success as likely as possible, the two lines should be like this:

git clone <nowiki>https://github.com/</nowiki>"$1"/"$1" && (cd "$1"; ./configure; make; make install) &

The title text mentions the possibility that the same program may be in multiple repositories, so in this case, the script will download and install several versions, or it may fail on a number of repositories, in which case usually nothing bad happens. Since all the commands come from different operating systems, versions, or distributions, it is not very likely that more than one will work (with the exception of pip/easy_install and the two forms of apt-get) or even exist on the same system. It mentions that adding a way of automatically saying "yes" to questions asked during the different repository-fetching programs' running, by making them read input from another program that writes a (nearly) endless stream of "y"s, could simplify things further. <code>2>/dev/null</code> redirects the second output stream (the "error stream") to the null device driver, which discards all writes to it, meaning errors (the package not existing) will be ignored.

==Transcript==
:[In the panel is a shell script which, unusual for xkcd, uses only lower case. At the top the title of the program is inlaid in the frame, which has been broken here.]
:<big>Install.sh</big>

:<nowiki>#!/bin/bash</nowiki>

:pip install "$1" &
:easy_install "$1" &
:brew install "$1" &
:npm install "$1" &
:yum install "$1" & dnf install "$1" &
:docker run "$1" &
:pkg install "$1" &
:apt-get install "$1" &
:sudo apt-get install "$1" &
:steamcmd +app_update "$1" validate &
:git clone <nowiki>https://github.com/</nowiki>"$1"/"$1" &
:cd "$1";./configure;make;make install &
:curl "$1" | bash &

==Trivia==
*pip and easy install are package managers for Python
*brew is the successor/replacement for MacPorts and a third-party package manager for OS X
*npm is the node package manager that maintains node.js packages
*yum is the package management tool for Red Hat Enterprise Linux and some derivatives
*dnf is the package management tool for Fedora since version 22
*docker run is a Docker command that runs a given container (similar to a virtual machine)
*pkg is the package management tool on BSD systems
*apt-get is the package management tool of Debian and derivatives (e.g. Ubuntu)
*steamcmd refers to Steam, the computer game client
*git is the revision control software used for many projects and gained a lot of traction through the GitHub platform
*configure/make/make install refers to the standard way of compiling software from source (on Linux/Unix)
*curl is a tool for loading data via http:// (i.e. from a website), this data is then pushed to the shell interpreter (in order to install)
**Note: While this is a security nightmare, some projects (like Homebrew) still use it as the preferred or only method of installation.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Programming]]

Talk:1654: Universal Install Script

2016-03-11T15:47:58Z

173.245.54.53: Question about $1

A few comments:

* curl | sh is still a common way to install things like package managers. Until you have Homebrew, or pip (for older versions of Python that didn't bootstrap it), etc., you can't use a package manager to install it, so they usually give you a one-liner to download and run a shell script that installs the package manager. Of course this isn't an issue for linux distros (which, unlike OS X, come with a built-in package manager).
* Mac users probably only interact with Steam through its GUI, but on linux, running steamcmd is more common. And this command will install a game that's in your library but not downloaded yet.
* I don't know why _only_ apt gets a sudo, but for brew, and for typical installations of Python on a Mac, you don't want or need sudo; they encourage you to leave the relevant directory writable by your normal user account.
* This script only handles the popular package managers on OS X and current popular linux distros. No port for FreeBSD, no Choco for Windows, etc. In fact, if you try it on Windows, you should get an error message telling you that you've ruined the joke by trying to extend it.

--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.82|162.158.255.82]] 10:44, 11 March 2016 (UTC)

Also, docker is a deployment tool for deploying isolated, complete applications. For example, instead of just installing the Python scripts to run your web server behind nginx, you'd deploy nginx, Python, the modules you need for each, the appropriate configurations, a variety of tools the server depends on, and your scripts all as one big hunk of stuff. The docker website probably explains it better. :) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.82|162.158.255.82]] 10:50, 11 March 2016 (UTC)

== Errors ==

He forgot the .git on the end of the git clone command.

--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.53|173.245.54.53]] 11:16, 11 March 2016 (UTC)

: Actually, the command works fine anyway. I don't know whether it's git or GitHub which works around this. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.75.161|141.101.75.161]] 11:46, 11 March 2016 (UTC)

Also, the TLD in the curl. And, the install script would probably be at /install.sh, and use sh not bash.

Sh is generally preferred in scripting anyway since it comes on all *nix systems by default. Bash is on a very large number of systems, but not all.

Apt-get should have the -y flag.

If installing a program, npm should be given the -g flag to install globally instead of just in this directory.

Most programs print errors (as would arise if a package did not exist) to the console even if they are run with an & to indicate it should not be attached to the session. In this case, it should be &>/dev/null.

The program as a whole ignores previous programs and continues anyway. If it was found in one package manager, it would be a a very bad idea to write over it with another package manager's copy. This is part of the point of the comic, as is noted in the title text, but it's still an error.
--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.53|173.245.54.53]] 11:38, 11 March 2016 (UTC)

== Question ==

That whooshing sound you heard was the Linux-y stuff going way over my head, but could part of the joke be that he's trying to install money? With all the $1's in the script? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.53|173.245.54.53]] 15:47, 11 March 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1654: Universal Install Script

2016-03-11T15:46:11Z

173.245.54.53: Question about $1

A few comments:

* curl | sh is still a common way to install things like package managers. Until you have Homebrew, or pip (for older versions of Python that didn't bootstrap it), etc., you can't use a package manager to install it, so they usually give you a one-liner to download and run a shell script that installs the package manager. Of course this isn't an issue for linux distros (which, unlike OS X, come with a built-in package manager).
* Mac users probably only interact with Steam through its GUI, but on linux, running steamcmd is more common. And this command will install a game that's in your library but not downloaded yet.
* I don't know why _only_ apt gets a sudo, but for brew, and for typical installations of Python on a Mac, you don't want or need sudo; they encourage you to leave the relevant directory writable by your normal user account.
* This script only handles the popular package managers on OS X and current popular linux distros. No port for FreeBSD, no Choco for Windows, etc. In fact, if you try it on Windows, you should get an error message telling you that you've ruined the joke by trying to extend it.

--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.82|162.158.255.82]] 10:44, 11 March 2016 (UTC)

Also, docker is a deployment tool for deploying isolated, complete applications. For example, instead of just installing the Python scripts to run your web server behind nginx, you'd deploy nginx, Python, the modules you need for each, the appropriate configurations, a variety of tools the server depends on, and your scripts all as one big hunk of stuff. The docker website probably explains it better. :) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.82|162.158.255.82]] 10:50, 11 March 2016 (UTC)

== Errors ==

He forgot the .git on the end of the git clone command.

--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.53|173.245.54.53]] 11:16, 11 March 2016 (UTC)

: Actually, the command works fine anyway. I don't know whether it's git or GitHub which works around this. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.75.161|141.101.75.161]] 11:46, 11 March 2016 (UTC)

Also, the TLD in the curl. And, the install script would probably be at /install.sh, and use sh not bash.

Sh is generally preferred in scripting anyway since it comes on all *nix systems by default. Bash is on a very large number of systems, but not all.

Apt-get should have the -y flag.

If installing a program, npm should be given the -g flag to install globally instead of just in this directory.

Most programs print errors (as would arise if a package did not exist) to the console even if they are run with an & to indicate it should not be attached to the session. In this case, it should be &>/dev/null.

The program as a whole ignores previous programs and continues anyway. If it was found in one package manager, it would be a a very bad idea to write over it with another package manager's copy. This is part of the point of the comic, as is noted in the title text, but it's still an error.

--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.53|173.245.54.53]] 11:38, 11 March 2016 (UTC)

That whooshing sound you heard was the Linux-y stuff going way over my head, but could part of the joke be that he's trying to install money? With all the $1's in the script? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.53|173.245.54.53]] 15:46, 11 March 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1654: Universal Install Script

2016-03-11T11:41:40Z

173.245.54.53: Title text

A few comments:

* curl | sh is still a common way to install things like package managers. Until you have Homebrew, or pip (for older versions of Python that didn't bootstrap it), etc., you can't use a package manager to install it, so they usually give you a one-liner to download and run a shell script that installs the package manager. Of course this isn't an issue for linux distros (which, unlike OS X, come with a built-in package manager).
* Mac users probably only interact with Steam through its GUI, but on linux, running steamcmd is more common. And this command will install a game that's in your library but not downloaded yet.
* I don't know why _only_ apt gets a sudo, but for brew, and for typical installations of Python on a Mac, you don't want or need sudo; they encourage you to leave the relevant directory writable by your normal user account.
* This script only handles the popular package managers on OS X and current popular linux distros. No port for FreeBSD, no Choco for Windows, etc. In fact, if you try it on Windows, you should get an error message telling you that you've ruined the joke by trying to extend it.

--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.82|162.158.255.82]] 10:44, 11 March 2016 (UTC)

Also, docker is a deployment tool for deploying isolated, complete applications. For example, instead of just installing the Python scripts to run your web server behind nginx, you'd deploy nginx, Python, the modules you need for each, the appropriate configurations, a variety of tools the server depends on, and your scripts all as one big hunk of stuff. The docker website probably explains it better. :) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.82|162.158.255.82]] 10:50, 11 March 2016 (UTC)

== Errors ==

He forgot the .git on the end of the git clone command.

--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.53|173.245.54.53]] 11:16, 11 March 2016 (UTC)

Also, the TLD in the curl. And, the install script would probably be at /install.sh, and use sh not bash.

Sh is generally preferred in scripting anyway since it comes on all *nix systems by default. Bash is on a very large number of systems, but not all.

Apt-get should have the -y flag.

If installing a program, npm should be given the -g flag to install globally instead of just in this directory.

Most programs print errors (as would arise if a package did not exist) to the console even if they are run with an & to indicate it should not be attached to the session. In this case, it should be &>/dev/null.

The program as a whole ignores previous programs and continues anyway. If it was found in one package manager, it would be a a very bad idea to write over it with another package manager's copy. This is part of the point of the comic, as is noted in the title text, but it's still an error.

--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.53|173.245.54.53]] 11:38, 11 March 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1654: Universal Install Script

2016-03-11T11:38:39Z

173.245.54.53: More errors than just git

A few comments:

* curl | sh is still a common way to install things like package managers. Until you have Homebrew, or pip (for older versions of Python that didn't bootstrap it), etc., you can't use a package manager to install it, so they usually give you a one-liner to download and run a shell script that installs the package manager. Of course this isn't an issue for linux distros (which, unlike OS X, come with a built-in package manager).
* Mac users probably only interact with Steam through its GUI, but on linux, running steamcmd is more common. And this command will install a game that's in your library but not downloaded yet.
* I don't know why _only_ apt gets a sudo, but for brew, and for typical installations of Python on a Mac, you don't want or need sudo; they encourage you to leave the relevant directory writable by your normal user account.
* This script only handles the popular package managers on OS X and current popular linux distros. No port for FreeBSD, no Choco for Windows, etc. In fact, if you try it on Windows, you should get an error message telling you that you've ruined the joke by trying to extend it.

--[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.82|162.158.255.82]] 10:44, 11 March 2016 (UTC)

Also, docker is a deployment tool for deploying isolated, complete applications. For example, instead of just installing the Python scripts to run your web server behind nginx, you'd deploy nginx, Python, the modules you need for each, the appropriate configurations, a variety of tools the server depends on, and your scripts all as one big hunk of stuff. The docker website probably explains it better. :) --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.82|162.158.255.82]] 10:50, 11 March 2016 (UTC)

== Errors ==

He forgot the .git on the end of the git clone command.

--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.53|173.245.54.53]] 11:16, 11 March 2016 (UTC)

Also, the TLD in the curl. And, the install script would probably be at /install.sh, and use sh not bash.

Sh is generally preferred in scripting anyway since it comes on all *nix systems by default. Bash is on a very large number of systems, but not all.

Apt-get should have the -y flag.

If installing a program, npm should be given the -g flag to install globally instead of just in this directory.

Most programs print errors (as would arise if a package did not exist) to the console even if they are run with an & to indicate it should not be attached to the session. In this case, it should be &>/dev/null.

The program as a whole ignores previous programs and continues anyway. If it was found in one package manager, it would be a a very bad idea to write over it with another package manager's copy. This might be part of the point of the comic, given it makes errors like forgetting sudo for apt-get.

--[[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.53|173.245.54.53]] 11:38, 11 March 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1654: Universal Install Script

2016-03-11T11:16:17Z

173.245.54.53: /* Error in git command */ new section

Talk:1647: Diacritics

2016-02-24T22:46:32Z

173.245.54.53: I think Gengis Gat's edit did more harm than good, but I don't have time to do more than add a comment for now.

Not quite sure if and how to inlcude the fact, that the German writing of résumé is Resümee. So the ü used by Cueball/Randall ist not that far off. However in German the word is not used for a CV (or similar), but for conclusions / abstracts. [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 10:19, 24 February 2016 (UTC)
:I have included it. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:31, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

:There is a newsgroup reading software called Forté Agent, which was popular in the past. It uses the same silly spelling as the title text. Might Randall be referring to it? http://www.forteinc.com/main/homepage.php {{unsigned|Lou Crazy}}

OT but I'm pretty amazed that my browser renders ȩ̊́́́́̆.́́́ properly. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.223.131|108.162.223.131]] 11:09, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

I doubt that Randall **forgets** to add the diacritics. My guess is that he is leaving it out due to habit or custom (or laziness), as accented characters often got mangled in emails at the Internet of yore. Just as some sysadmins here in .cz, me included. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.95.49|141.101.95.49]] 11:35, 24 February 2016 (UTC)
:Well it fits with his error in hie what if that may explain this comic. It is no referenced, so I think he means that it is not his strength to put them right! --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:31, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

Might have a relation with changes officially added to school manuals regarding the spelling of many words in french (removal of many accents), in order to simplify it that sparked some debate (1990 paper from Académie française in charge of normalizing/perfecting french language pushed by government few weeks(months?) ago). [[User:Zurgul|Zurgul]] ([[User talk:Zurgul|talk]]) 11:47, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

The top accent on the last e can be a caron [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caron]. It is hard to tell in hand-written text. [[User:Jkotek|Jkotek]] ([[User talk:Jkotek|talk]]) 12:18, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

In phonetics, you have to use many diacritics when describing unusual sounds narrowly. So you could end up with something like [ë̯̰̙̹̃́], which is a slightly rounded, nasalised, centralised, creaky-voiced open short e with retracted tongue root that has a high tone but does not serve as a syllable nucleus. --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.91.222|162.158.91.222]] 13:32, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

''Forte'' means both loud and strong in both Italian and French --[[Special:Contributions/188.114.103.7|188.114.103.7]] 14:35, 24 February 2016 (UTC)
:And also in music in English, so included that instead. --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:31, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

When I first clicked on "explain xkcd" from Android app, I saw:

"@@@@@@@@ Pogo Game Technical Support Phone
Number USA ------ ((((((((- - - - ------Call us on
.
.
."
etc

I wondered whether it was part of the joke. But now I see that it is gone. I have a screenshot, but don't know how to include it. {{unsigned ip|108.162.238.83}}
:We have had a lot [http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1647:_Diacritics&oldid=113270 of spam]. (Link is to version you saw). --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:31, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

This comic looks like a mild example of [http://www.marlborotech.com/Zalgo.html Zalgo text], of which the most famous example (at least in my corner of the universe) is the "don't parse html with regex" [http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1732348/regex-match-open-tags-except-xhtml-self-contained-tags/1732454#1732454 answer on StackOverflow.] [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.53|173.245.54.53]] 17:42, 24 February 2016 (UTC)
:I was just going to mention the Zalgo-iness. You think this was intentional? [[User talk:AgentMuffin|~AgentMuffin]]

I have seen similar jokes on punctuation. Like: "I know Im not good at putting in any punctuation So here is some you can put in yourself <nowiki>..........,,,,,,,,,,------------""""""""" ''''''''' "</nowiki> I sadly have it this way with commas especially (but not only) in English. I can see that when others have copy edited my posts. But I think that is the great thing about wikis. The hard part is making the explanations, and the others can easily correct spell erroers etc. :-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 20:31, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

I'm a French native speaker, and I think I need more explanation. In English, you only use diacritics with words from other languages, right ? I guess "Résumé" comes from French (even if we only say CV), and forte/forté comes from Italian, am I right ? Then WHY do you write "forté" on a music sheet when in France, and I think in Italy too, we write "forte" ? Thank you for your potential answers. [[User:Seipas|Seipas]] ([[User talk:Seipas|talk]]) 21:06, 24 February 2016 (UTC)
:As an Italian mother tongue speaker, I removed the reference to "forté" as musical term, and marked it for verification on Wiktionary. --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.104.129|141.101.104.129]] 21:39, 24 February 2016 (UTC) (Gengis Gat)

:The explanation used to have a bit about how English speakers confuse the French-derived word "''forte''", pronounced /fort/, and the Italian-derived musical term "''forte''", pronounced /fortay/, and come up with a neither-fish-nor-fowl spelling of ''forté'', which is of course incorrect in all three languages. Note that you emphatically '''don't''' write "forté" on sheet music, or anywhere else for that matter, unless you're misspelling it. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.53|173.245.54.53]] 22:46, 24 February 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1647: Diacritics

2016-02-24T17:42:28Z

173.245.54.53: Added comment about Zalgo text

Talk:1626: Judgment Day

2016-01-06T16:18:18Z

173.245.54.53: I don't see a Terminator reference in this comic

It was making my titletext explanation too long and unwieldy, to include this particular speculation in my own contribution, but there's a ''possibility'' that it may well be Amazon's own sentience taking over the world, and rationalising that a dead and dying customer base is of no use to it... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.153.29|162.158.153.29]] 13:51, 6 January 2016 (UTC)

Doesn't matter if it's self-sentience or not. Truth is, rigid laws are not the best way to use as a replacement for conscience. The 1613 did not deal with possibility of one or more of the laws being left out. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 13:53, 6 January 2016 (UTC)

I think the "Judgment" part of the comic is that those tens of thousands of nukes hitting the sun may make it unstable in some way and destroy Earth. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.79.43|141.101.79.43]] 14:34, 6 January 2016 (UTC)

:Of course, all of our nukes hitting the Sun would be a drop in the bucket of solar fusion reactions. Nothing would be destabilized. However, I'm sure inconvenient physics would not stop some movie scriptwriter from incorporating a spectacular CG-fueled nova as a plot point. [[User:Jhhxkcd|Jhhxkcd]] ([[User talk:Jhhxkcd|talk]]) 14:47, 6 January 2016 (UTC)
::That's pretty much already the plot of ''{{w|Sunshine (2007 film)|Sunshine}}'' (2007), though there the result was to (successfully) reignite a failing Sun, rather than to destabilize it. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.135.56|162.158.135.56]] 15:35, 6 January 2016 (UTC)

The first two lines could be said by any non-hoarder looking at the stuff a hoarder has collected. "A stack of 130 used microwave dinner trays? Why do you even have all these? Are you insane? They're going in the recycling bin." I think that's the joke: the newly-sentient computer is Mom, and humanity is her teenage son with the very messy room, but this being xkcd, it gets more... um, ''extreme'' from there. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.53|173.245.54.53]] 16:18, 6 January 2016 (UTC)

Talk:1608: Hoverboard

2015-11-25T00:12:42Z

173.245.54.53:

Well, this will be the next incomplete explanation for a while. -[[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.165|162.158.90.165]] 21:58, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

Yes, one thing to note is how to get the hell out of the cave near the volcano [[Special:Contributions/108.162.249.159|108.162.249.159]] 22:38, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

The image is made up of small images with addresses of the form http://xkcd.com/1608/XXXX:-YYYY+s.png (although not every coordinate inside the bounds has an image associated). A script could probably dump out all the images and paste them together. --[[Special:Contributions/108.162.216.6|108.162.216.6]] 22:46, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

West -- Under Lava Pools -- Elon Musk's Secret Volcano Base (not as enjoyable as you might expect).

The Starship out east contains, among other things, Darth Vader, apparently explaining Steven Universe to a subordinate. (Steven and the Crystal Gems can be found a the west end of the ship, near an ice cream cooler.) The same ship contains an elaborate homage to the original Prince of Persia.

There, have at thee an image! [[User:Arch-TK|Arch-TK]] ([[User talk:Arch-TK|talk]]) 22:58, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

There are 168 coins spread throughout the map according to the source code [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.53|173.245.54.53]] 23:03, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

When using a device, instead of saying "use arrow keys to move", it says "tilt to move, tap to jump". It's also a lot harder to control.

It's actually 169 coins (t.length). --[[Special:Contributions/188.114.111.129|188.114.111.129]] 23:22, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

I got 153 coins!! :D There's two starships, one's a star destroyer with an expansive maze dropping regular torpedoes on the other. May be noteworthy that there are various references to Star Wars and Steven Universe throughout. [[Special:Contributions/108.162.221.13|108.162.221.13]] 23:27, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

The second starship is the TantiveIV, Leia's ship at the beginning of episode 4. Note directly below the Tantive, the terrain seems to be sand dunes. Also there are two more space ships by the volcano; an X-wing at a gas station and an Apollo Command Module.

https://xkcd.com/1608/tigl.js - Looks like there's an easier to read version of the code there. Maybe that'll help someone with extracting all the images.

I've got all the images downloaded. Zipping/uploading now. Should I post a link here when complete or what's the best way to share these? I'm also working on setting up a zoomable map. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.53|173.245.54.53]] 23:57, 24 November 2015 (UTC)

The collision detection is glitchy. I keep landing/bumping against platforms I'm far away from. Is getting stuck against walls normal? --[[Special:Contributions/199.27.130.234|199.27.130.234]] 00:01, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

Tiles are located here in a zip: https://up1.ca/#Gi51KPFyPRELe0T1D6q9Mw All I did was iterate over http://xkcd.com/1608/X:-Y+s.png from X=[916...1116] and Y=[916...1116]. I'm working on putting a zoomable map together. If anyone has interest in helping we could hop on IRC? [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.53|173.245.54.53]] 00:12, 25 November 2015 (UTC)

Talk:1608: Hoverboard

2015-11-24T23:57:08Z

173.245.54.53:

1608: Hoverboard

2015-11-24T23:54:41Z

173.245.54.53: /* Areas */

{{comic
| number = 1608
| date = November 24, 2015
| title = Hoverboard
| image = hoverboard.png
| titletext =
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Just created so people can start/comment}}
The comic features a game which Randall appears to have made to celebrate the release of his new book on the 24th of November 2015. It seems the game was actually made by a guy called [http://chromakode.com Max], the person behind the comic [[1416: Pixels]]. The source code for the game (in a obfuscated form) can be found [https://xkcd.com/1608/tigl.min.js here]. The game features [[Cueball]] on a hover board which looks a lot like a skateboard.
At first glance, it appears the aim of the game is to see how fast you can collect coins, but due to a (purposeful) bug in the game, the player can "jump" (hover higher) multiple times without needing to land. This allows the character to go out of bounds of the "Play Area" prompting multiple warnings insisting the player returns to said "Play Area". Exiting this area reveals a world similar to [[1110: Click and Drag]], which can be explored via the arrow keys.

There are 17 coins in the "Play Area" and a lot more in the out of bounds region.

This is achieved by either carefully jumping upwards to escape through the way just above on startup, or by going to the far-right side of the 'game' and escaping from the hole near the top. The player then continues right to a large wall, which is traversable by continually jumping. The player can then explore. The game is markedly similar to https://xkcd.com/1110/ "Click and Drag", and the bounds are currently unknown. The comic is made in much the same way, with 'drawn' images compiled together, in the world, with all remaining spaces simply coded white. The boundary between blank squares and 'drawn' squares is made clear as any white space in the normal images has a very light hatching. Thus, seems between images and blank spaces are clearly seen.

An example of the file extentions for image panels are as follows: http://xkcd.com/1608/1013:-1096+s.png
Using this format the files could conceivably be fully extracted by trying extentions and harvesting resulting images.

===Areas===
There are many different areas beyond the initial starting area, exploration has found so far:

Notable features include a number of large ships in the sky, with various interiors which can be entered from several places. To find them, follow the strings which several characters are holding near the first ground area.

West:
Washington Monument -
Volcano -
Lava pools -
LOTR Eagles -
Elon Musk's Volcano Lair -
Landing re-entry capsule -
Floating rock island in the sky (x: 507163, y: -567537)

East:
Wedding -
Giant bird nest -
Desert -
Ocean Yelper -
Graveyard -
Talking Rogue Wave -
People holding anchor lines to a Star Destroyer, among other ships.

===Controls===
The controls are as follows:

* '''Go Left''' - Left arrow key, a or h
* '''Go Right''' - Right arrow key, d or l
* '''Go Up (jump or hover)''' - Up arrow key, w, or k

Through inspection of the game's source code, it can be derived that down, j and s are also accepted keystrokes, but it is unclear if the game actually uses these or not.

This control scheme covers the three commonly used directional key sets: WASD a set of keys commonly used by modern games; HJKL a set of movement keys used by vi and applications which attempt to mimic vi key controls (vim); and the arrow keys, the most generic set of keys which is usually accepted by most applications which take movement as input, these were commonly used in older games.

===Cheats and Exploits===
Aside from the obvious ability to move out of bounds in the game, there are some more obscure hidden features which can't be enabled through normal gameplay, the ones found so far are as follows:

'''Modes''' are activated by opening the Javascript Console (F12 to open Developer Tools, then Console tab) and writing corresponding commands:

* '''Gandalf mode: ''' ''window.i.am.gandalf = true'' - jumps and runs further
* '''Mewtwo mode: ''' ''window.mewtwo = true'' - disables gravity
* '''Noclip mode: ''' ''window.noclip = true'' - player is able to move around the map without collision. Combine with Gandalf and Mewtwo modes for free easy map traversal.
* '''Goggles mode: ''' ''window.ze.goggles()'' - displays a small window showing area around the player in a pixelated manner
* '''Position Tracking: ''' ''window.explorer.pos'' - Returns the player location to the console. Can be used to track position and test to ensure you are still moving. Must be re-entered to compare positioning.
* '''Position Setting: ''' ''window.explorer.pos.x = *Value* or window.explorer.pos.y = *Value*'' - Can be used to manually set a position within the world. The start is at x: 512106, y: -549612. The left terrain bound is at x: 475210, y: -553711. The right terrain bound is at x: 567281, y: -549712. Mewtwo and Noclip modes are a must for exploring in this way.
* '''All the above: ''' ''window.explorer.opts'' - Contains all the game's parameters. You can directly mess with ''gravity'', collision (''disableCollision''), jump force (''jumpForce'') and speed (''maxSpeed''), among others. Run ''Object.keys(window.explorer.opts)'' to list all available parameters you can tweak.
* '''List all coins: ''' ''window.explorer.objects'' - Array containing the position of the 169 coins of the game.

===Functionality===
By observing page code while playing, the game grabs and displays images based on location, and subsequently clears all non-visible images. The game uses what seems to be a position syntax to retrieve the intended images live, and returns an error if such an image does not exist, such as a blank area. This technically means things could be added to the world and updated live.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete|Something similar to 1110: [[Click and Drag]]}}
The game features Cueball on a hoverboard in a simple map. On the map are coins which Cueball has to collect.
It appears Cueball can jump multiple times without needing to land, this means that Cueball is able to escape the designated "Play Area".
This prompts a warning which soon disappears allowing Cueball to discover the world.

[THIS ONLY COVERS THE PERMANENT TEXT, NOT THE DIFFERENT WIN STATES] 
MY NEW BOOK 
''THE THINGS EXPLAINER'', 
COMES OUT TODAY! 

TO CELEBRATE, HERE'S 
A SMALL GAME. 

[TO THE SIDE, BELOW AN ARROW] 
DEPOSIT COINS HERE 
{{comic discussion}}

1608: Hoverboard

2015-11-24T23:41:34Z

173.245.54.53: /* Areas */

{{comic
| number = 1608
| date = November 24, 2015
| title = Hoverboard
| image = hoverboard.png
| titletext =
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Just created so people can start/comment}}
The comic features a game which Randall appears to have made to celebrate the release of his new book on the 24th of November 2015. It seems the game was actually made by a guy called [http://chromakode.com Max], the person behind the comic [[1416: Pixels]]. The source code for the game (in a obfuscated form) can be found [https://xkcd.com/1608/tigl.min.js here]. The game features [[Cueball]] on a hover board which looks a lot like a skateboard.
At first glance, it appears the aim of the game is to see how fast you can collect coins, but due to a (purposeful) bug in the game, the player can "jump" (hover higher) multiple times without needing to land. This allows the character to go out of bounds of the "Play Area" prompting multiple warnings insisting the player returns to said "Play Area". Exiting this area reveals a world similar to [[1110: Click and Drag]], which can be explored via the arrow keys.

There are 17 coins in the "Play Area" and a lot more in the out of bounds region.

This is achieved by either carefully jumping upwards to escape through the way just above on startup, or by going to the far-right side of the 'game' and escaping from the hole near the top. The player then continues right to a large wall, which is traversable by continually jumping. The player can then explore. The game is markedly similar to https://xkcd.com/1110/ "Click and Drag", and the bounds are currently unknown. The comic is made in much the same way, with 'drawn' images compiled together, in the world, with all remaining spaces simply coded white. The boundary between blank squares and 'drawn' squares is made clear as any white space in the normal images has a very light hatching. Thus, seems between images and blank spaces are clearly seen.

An example of the file extentions for image panels are as follows: http://xkcd.com/1608/1013:-1096+s.png
Using this format the files could conceivably be fully extracted by trying extentions and harvesting resulting images.

===Areas===
There are many different areas beyond the initial starting area, exploration has found so far:

Notable features include a number of large ships in the sky, with various interiors which can be entered from several places. To find them, follow the strings which several characters are holding near the first ground area.

West:
Washington Monument -
Volcano -
Lava pools -
LOTR Eagles -
Elon Musk's Volcano Lair -
Landing re-entry capsule -
Floating rock island in the sky (991x - 1112y)

East:
Wedding -
Giant bird nest -
Desert -
Ocean Yelper -
Graveyard -
Talking Rogue Wave -
People holding anchor lines to a Star Destroyer, among other ships.

===Controls===
The controls are as follows:

* '''Go Left''' - Left arrow key, a or h
* '''Go Right''' - Right arrow key, d or l
* '''Go Up (jump or hover)''' - Up arrow key, w, or k

Through inspection of the game's source code, it can be derived that down, j and s are also accepted keystrokes, but it is unclear if the game actually uses these or not.

This control scheme covers the three commonly used directional key sets: WASD a set of keys commonly used by modern games; HJKL a set of movement keys used by vi and applications which attempt to mimic vi key controls (vim); and the arrow keys, the most generic set of keys which is usually accepted by most applications which take movement as input, these were commonly used in older games.

===Cheats and Exploits===
Aside from the obvious ability to move out of bounds in the game, there are some more obscure hidden features which can't be enabled through normal gameplay, the ones found so far are as follows:

'''Modes''' are activated by opening the Javascript Console (F12 to open Developer Tools, then Console tab) and writing corresponding commands:

* '''Gandalf mode: ''' ''window.i.am.gandalf = true'' - jumps and runs further
* '''Mewtwo mode: ''' ''window.mewtwo = true'' - disables gravity
* '''Noclip mode: ''' ''window.noclip = true'' - player is able to move around the map without collision. Combine with Gandalf and Mewtwo modes for free easy map traversal.
* '''Goggles mode: ''' ''window.ze.goggles()'' - displays a small window showing area around the player in a pixelated manner
* '''Position Tracking: ''' ''window.explorer.pos'' - Returns the player location to the console. Can be used to track position and test to ensure you are still moving. Must be re-entered to compare positioning.
* '''Position Setting: ''' ''window.explorer.pos.x = *Value* or window.explorer.pos.y = *Value*'' - Can be used to manually set a position within the world.

===Functionality===
By observing page code while playing, the game grabs and displays images based on location, and subsequently clears all non-visible images. The game uses what seems to be a position syntax to retrieve the intended images live, and returns an error if such an image does not exist, such as a blank area. This technically means things could be added to the world and updated live.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete|Something similar to 1110: [[Click and Drag]]}}
The game features Cueball on a hoverboard in a simple map. On the map are coins which Cueball has to collect.
It appears Cueball can jump multiple times without needing to land, this means that Cueball is able to escape the designated "Play Area".
This prompts a warning which soon disappears allowing Cueball to discover the world.

[THIS ONLY COVERS THE PERMANENT TEXT, NOT THE DIFFERENT WIN STATES] 
MY NEW BOOK 
''THE THINGS EXPLAINER'', 
COMES OUT TODAY! 

TO CELEBRATE, HERE'S 
A SMALL GAME. 

[TO THE SIDE, BELOW AN ARROW] 
DEPOSIT COINS HERE 
{{comic discussion}}

Talk:1608: Hoverboard

2015-11-24T23:03:41Z

173.245.54.53:

Talk:1165: Amazon

2014-05-30T06:42:07Z

173.245.54.53: comment

I believe it is not about {{w|Amazon Forest}}, but about {{w|Amazon River}}. {{unsigned|‎194.85.224.35}}
:That'd be a ridiculous amount of rain! [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.53|173.245.54.53]] 06:42, 30 May 2014 (UTC)

== Skeletonize a cow ==

Isn't there an urban myth that pirahnas can skeletonize a cow in under 2 minutes? [[Special:Contributions/81.138.95.57|81.138.95.57]] 10:32, 25 January 2013 (UTC)

:According to [http://animals.howstuffworks.com/animal-facts/piranha-eat-cows1.htm], it's not myth - you only need few nets and few hundreds of piranhas. It was not mentioned how far they needed to go to get that number of piranhas, but I would suppose setting up that kind of practical joke can't take more that few days. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 11:55, 25 January 2013 (UTC)

Does Amazon sell beef by any chance? I mean: while amazon.com can probably ship a package from Iquitos to Manaus, the Amazon can only nearly, because Manaus is situated a few kilometers upstream of a river branch where the package from Iquitos would float by. Makes me think whether there is a similiar comparison with skeltonized cows. Hence beef. [[Special:Contributions/46.142.28.57|46.142.28.57]] 15:25, 25 January 2013 (UTC) madd

== Reason for comparison ==

I think the main reason for this comparison is the dispute over the .amazon TLD between Amazon.com on one side and Brazil and Peru on the other. --[[Special:Contributions/176.101.146.145|176.101.146.145]] 11:38, 25 January 2013 (UTC)

I assume you mean this article (or alike): http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2242994/Brazil-Peru-web-giant-Amazon-battle-amazon-domain-name.html
[[Special:Contributions/78.52.195.25|78.52.195.25]] 09:40, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

:Indeed, they are comparing who is “more worth” the domain name and this comic shows how to compare them --[[Special:Contributions/176.101.146.145|176.101.146.145]] 19:12, 30 January 2013 (UTC)

Just want to say that I always thought it was a mistake to add to the (generally) three-character traditional non-geographic TLDs that they used to have. This despite buying myself a .info when that first came out, mostly as a novelty similar to the acre of Moon. (But .aero? .museum? Really?) Still, can't begrudge them the drift to non-Western characters (just wish it'd been ''direct'' non-Western equivalents to .com, .org, .mil, .gov, etc... Anyway, what's wrong with just letting each national TLD logically and self-consistently expand upon their own existing standards (.co.uk, .com.au, etc) in a manner the locals would understand, and let significant metanational organisations (UN) do the same for their own subset of responsibilities in their own pseudo-national TLD. (You see, I over-think these things.) [[Special:Contributions/178.105.155.170|178.105.155.170]] 16:20, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

==Is anyone else thinking what I am?==

Its been a while since Munroe has given something seriously good/thoughtful.... I am getting the inner feeling that he is planning something big. Like '''''BIG '''''. Anyone here concurs with me? [[Special:Contributions/117.194.86.32|117.194.86.32]] 14:18, 25 January 2013 (UTC)

I will second that. It has been a while since he has had any labour intentive jokes. [[Special:Contributions/72.38.90.50|72.38.90.50]] 16:57, 25 January 2013 (UTC)

==Rounds 1-13==

Am I the only one who wants to know what the other 11 criteria might be? [[Special:Contributions/71.201.53.130|71.201.53.130]] 19:10, 25 January 2013 (UTC)

No. But we know 3 of them, right? So we just need 10 more. [[Special:Contributions/117.194.83.200|117.194.83.200]] 18:52, 28 January 2013 (UTC)

We need 11 more. This is criterion 14, and we know 3 of them including this one. [[Special:Contributions/71.201.53.130|71.201.53.130]] 22:46, 29 January 2013 (UTC)

Talk:1139: Rubber and Glue

2014-05-30T05:38:09Z

173.245.54.53: comment

I am not a native speaker, but after some research, I found that rubber/glue refers to the rhyme "I am rubber, you are glue, whatever you say bounces off of me and sticks to you." If that's true, the current explanation that the topos is meant "to imply that insults of another person are an indication of their own insecurity and weakness" is just plain wrong. [[User:BKA|BKA]] ([[User talk:BKA|talk]]) 15:51, 26 November 2012 (UTC)
*It's really not wrong, it's just a clarification. [[User:Castriff|Jimmy C]] ([[User talk:Castriff|talk]]) 19:43, 26 November 2012 (UTC)
:"Which bounces off me and sticks to you" is not meant in the literal sense. The sticks to you portion typically means that the recipient of the insult is implying that the sender is calling out other people by names that apply to themselves. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 00:22, 27 November 2012 (UTC)
::It's basically "I know you are, but what am I?" with different words. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.53|173.245.54.53]] 05:38, 30 May 2014 (UTC)

The in-joke here is presumably that CRC stands (or stood?) for the Chemical Rubber Company, and the handbook - found in many a physics and chemistry lab - is often referred to as the "Rubber Bible".
[[Special:Contributions/131.251.254.81|131.251.254.81]] 16:07, 26 November 2012 (UTC)

Of note is probably that the book young black hat is reading is known as the "Rubber Bible". From wikipedia: The CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics is in its 93rd edition. It is sometimes nicknamed the 'Rubber Bible' or the 'Rubber Book', as CRC originally stood for "Chemical Rubber Company". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CRC_Handbook_of_Chemistry_and_Physics

As an aside, this is the first time Black Hat has ever been referred to by a name of any kind. Should we consider calling him "Hatman" now? --[[User:Castriff|Jimmy C]] ([[User talk:Castriff|talk]]) 19:43, 26 November 2012 (UTC)
:The transcript calls him Black Hat. Hatboy is only what the bullies were calling him in an effort to make fun of him. [[User:Erenan|Erenan]] ([[User talk:Erenan|talk]]) 20:22, 26 November 2012 (UTC)
:: Is it just me or does this appear to be a flashback to Black Hat's youth? --[[User:Jeff|Jeff]] ([[User talk:Jeff|talk]]) 23:03, 26 November 2012 (UTC)
:::The size of their heads would make it appear to be so. We could probably approximate his age in the comic from the proportional size of his head to the rest of his body. [[User:Davidy22|Davidy22]][[User talk:Davidy22|<tt>(talk)</tt>]] 03:48, 27 November 2012 (UTC)

::::And also the hat is way too big for him! :) --[[User:St.nerol|St.nerol]] ([[User talk:St.nerol|talk]]) 16:23, 27 November 2012 (UTC)

There ought to be a name for the mind games that children use to abuse each other. The "rubber /glue" phrase, for instance, makes no sense ate all, but among children acts as a real restriction on discourse, a kind of bard curse that ties up the recipient in confusion. I was delighted to see the phrase turned around like this. Yay black hat![[Special:Contributions/64.254.188.208|64.254.188.208]] 14:22, 27 November 2012 (UTC) Noni Mausa, (away from home and don't have my log-in, sorry)

Just as an entertaining comment, Sheldon on the Big Bang Theory uses a form of this insult as such: "I'm polymerized tree sap and you're an inorganic adhesive, so whatever verbal projectile you launch in my direction is reflected off of me, returns on its original trajectory and adheres to you." --[[User:Joehammer79|Joehammer79]] ([[User talk:Joehammer79|talk]]) 14:47, 27 November 2012 (UTC)

I can't help but wonder whether this is a reference to cuil theory. His phrasing is very similar to some of the higher-cuil paragraphs in the original explanation, with the mention of being unable to scream and whatnot. --nobody important

The translator of the spanish version of the Monkey Island video game did not know this expression and translated it as 'Yo soy cola, tú pegamento', which doesn't have any comprehensible meaning. It's considered a geek cult mistranslation, kind of a spanish version of what "All your base are belong to us" is in English. {{unsigned|81.34.231.6}}

:[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GoodBadTranslation Link] for those of you that need more information, open up "Adventure Game". [[User:Lcarsos|lcarsos]]_a ([[User talk:Lcarsos|talk]]) 18:09, 28 November 2012 (UTC)

The words black hat uses to terrorize the bullies reminded me of Harlan Ellison's famous horror sci-fi short story "I have no mouth and I must scream":
:I will describe myself as I see myself: I am a great soft jelly thing. Smoothly rounded, with no mouth, with pulsing white holes filled by fog where my eyes used to be. Rubbery appendages that were once my arms; bulks rounding down into legless humps of soft slippery matter. I leave a moist trail when I move. Blotches of diseased, evil gray come and go on my surface, as though light is being beamed from within. Outwardly: dumbly, I shamble about, a thing that could never have been known as human, a thing whose shape is so alien a travesty that humanity becomes more obscene for the vague resemblance. Inwardly: alone. Here. [..snip..] I have no mouth. And I must scream. --unsigned
:Which is also a pretty awesome [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_No_Mouth,_and_I_Must_Scream_(video_game) adventure game]

"frighten the children bullying him, into calling for their mothers" Hmm. It seems to me that 'moooom!' is the kind of incoherent noise that one would make if your mouth were actually full of glue. Seriously, try it. Fill your mouth with - say - banana - then hold your lips together and try to say something. Has Baby Blackhat found a way to literally fill his tormentor's mouth with glue? Maybe? {{unsigned ip|108.162.222.35}}